Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1887-07-27
VICTORY AND VICTORIA.
A Comparison Between Nelson's Flagship
and Modern Iron-CIad.

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A Comparison Between Nelson's Flagship
and q Modern Iron-CIad.
Sir William Armstrong, in the
course, of his speech on the launch of
the new British iron-clad Victoria,
made some interesting remarks on the
past and present of English men-of-
war. @Gn an esthetic point of view,"
he said, sit must be confessed our
ships have sadly deteriorated. No
more beautiful object could be seen
than great man-of-war of the old
type under q press of sail. Poets and
painters have delighted in depicting
it; but the engineer appreciates power
more than beauty, and while r uskin
would stigmatize a modern warship as
a devil ship, the engineer regards it
as a splendid triumph of mechanical
skill" Sir William then went oA to
take particular instance, and COM
pared the new Victoria with the old
Victory. The Victory, in accordance
with the usage of the time, was bull OF
oak; the Victoria, in accordance with
present practice, is built of iron. The
The Victory was propelled by wind,
over which man has no control; the
! Victoria will be propelled by steam,
over which man has perfect mastery
The Victory had the character of be-
ing an extraordinary quick sailer, and
when the wind in it's vagaries hap
pened to be exceptionally propitious
she could attain a speed of nearly thir-
teen knots an hour. The Victoria,
propelled by engines of more than 49,
000-horse-power, may pe expected to
achieve about seventeen knots an
hour, and will be independent of the
wind. In regard to armament, the
comparison in favor of the Victoria is
astounding, and ought to open the
eyes of those who are in Che habit OF
disparaging the progress of artillery
in this country. The armament OF
the Victory, as she fought at Ira
falgar, consisted of thirty So
Founders, thirty 24-pounders,
forty 12-psunders, and two g.
FOUNDER carsonades, making in all 102
guns. The heaviest of these guns was
under three tons, while the heaviest
on board the Victory is 40 tons. The
largest charge of powder used in the
Victory was pounds, wlKle the larg-
est charge to be used in the Victoria
will be 900 pounds. The heaviest shot
used in the Victory was 68 pounds,
while in the Victoria it will be 1900
pounds. The weight of metal dis
charged from the broadside of the
Victory was 1, $50 pounds, against
4,750 pounds from that of the Victoria,
but the power of the broadside dis
charge from each ship is better indi-
Gated by the quantity of powder ex
pended than by the weight of metal
discharged, and while the broadside fire
from the Victory consumed only
225 pounds, that from the Victoria
will consume only 5000 pounds. In
point of range, accuracy, penetrating
power and shell power, the difference
is so great in favor of the Victoria that
a comparison would be ridiculous ]
have yet to give you the particulars OF
the Victoria's armament 1t will con-
sist of two 110-guns, mounted in re-
volving turret, and firing ahead or on
either side; one 30-ton gun, firing
astern or on either aside, twelve 6-ton
guns; twelve 6-pounder quick-fring
guns and nine 3-posnder quick-fTing
guns, and considerable number of
machine-guns for small ammunition
Besides her artillery armament the
Victoria has a powerful ram, and she
carries eight torpedo discharges, four
above and four below water. In the
fighting days of the Victoria, ramming
was little practiced, and torpedoes were
wholly unknown. Therefore in these
respects no comparison can
be drawn, but there is another point
of view in witch the Victoria compares
in highly favorable degree with the
Victory, and that is in the smallness of
the number of officers and men re-
quired to handle the ships. The COM
plement of offers and men on board
the Victory was $50, while on board
the Victoria it will only be $50, of
whom ITO will be engineers and stok-
ers, leaving only $40 officers and men
Ill cOl1SdLaHG capacity. Illus, al
though the Victoria is three times as
big as the Victory and prodlgiously SUI
perlor in offensive power, there will
only be half the number of mon ex-
posed to death and wounds in tka
working of her armament. This re-
suit is chiefly due to the mechanical
appliances which in recent years have
been introduced for working the guns
London Telegraph.